SACRAMENTO -- The evidence is spread across the floor on a yellow tarp:
- nine firearms (eight are unregistered assault weapons)
- 100 large capacity magazines
- eight large capacity drum magazines
- 20,000+ large caliber rounds of ammunition
California Department of Justice Special Agents in the Bureau of Firearms seized all of that from one convicted felon, who by law, cannot possess a firearm, let alone an arsenal.
"Your heart just sinks to the pit of your stomach when you look at all of that and wonder what the motivation might have been," said Alan Barcelona, president of the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA). "Special agents conducting an Armed Prohibited Persons (APPS) investigation discovered that. They are out there day in and night out seizing firearms from those who by law can't have them because of a felony conviction, domestic violence or mental illness. Are they in harm's way? You bet they are."
On Tuesday, June 25, special agents conducted a probation search at the Sacramento County home of Britton Edward McFetridge, 37. They discovered the weapons during a search of the basement. Agents determined the firearms had been illegally purchased within the last three to five years from private parties and that the magazines were illegally purchased online.
McFetridge was on probation due to a 2010 conviction for felony battery with serious bodily injury. Following Tuesday's probation search, McFetridge was arrested at his place of business in Sacramento and booked into the Sacramento County Jail on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of unregistered assault weapons, felon in possession of ammunition and large capacity magazines and violation of probation.
